Diplomat hopes to become an ambassador

The diplomat at the centre of the Afghan torture allegations -- which continue to dog the Stephen Harper government -- would like to be a Canadian ambassador one day.

A source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, says Richard Colvin sees that as a natural progression in a career that has taken him to Russia, Jerusalem, Afghanistan and Washington.

Colvin, 40, a graduate of Waterdown District High School, has been in the foreign service since 1994. He is presently on a four-year posting, that began in late 2007, to the Canadian Embassy in Washington as deputy head of the intelligence liaison office.

Colvin alleged last month at a Commons committee that Ottawa looked the other way over his 2006 reports that detainees transferred to locals in Kandahar were being tortured. It has lead to calls for a public inquiry, strong denials from the Conservatives, denials from the military and even partisan attacks on Colvin from the Conservatives, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Reached in Washington yesterday, Colvin said he was feeling fine even though his name has been plastered in headlines across the nation, and been blasted by the Tories, in the ensuing media storm.

"It has not affected my current job," he said. "It has not affected my current job and I don't expect it to."

He declined further comment.

A source said, however, that Colvin is finding the media storm stressful, tense, but interesting at the same time.

Colvin obtained his Masters in Journalism from the University of Western Ontario in 1994 and worked as a reporter in Moscow for a year at USSR Business Report.

He is having trouble adjusting to the level of attention, but the source also says Colvin expects the furor to die down fairly quickly.

Born in Coventry, England, Colvin is the son of Anthony Colvin, a businessman, and his schoolteacher wife Helen of Freelton. The couple have four boys and Colvin is the second oldest.

His mother is finding the media storm "strange," noting one day she heard her son's name mentioned every 30 minutes. She has concerns about his future.

"One just hopes for the best," she said. "It's all a bit of a mystery where it is going to go. I'm completely overwhelmed by it, to be honest."

His family moved to Canada when he was 16 when his father, an executive with Massey Ferguson, was transferred to Canada to work at its Brantford headquarters. At one time, the family lived in France.

His father is well-known on the Flamborough scene. He ran for mayor in 1994, losing to Ted McMeekin, and headed up the Flamborough Taxpayers Coalition. He also was once an active member of the Reform Party in Hamilton-Wentworth and made his voice heard at the Free Flamborough anti-amalgamation group meetings.

By some accounts, Richard Colvin adjusted well to life in his new country. He attended Waterdown High for two years, graduating from grade 13.

He enjoyed history, English and the arts. He played rugby back in England, and was encouraged to join the Waterdown high school football team, but declined.

His mother, who called all her sons quiet academics, said her second oldest enjoyed school.

"The only time he was called to the principal's office was to give him an award," his mother joked.

Richard got his interest in working in diplomacy through his uncle David Colvin. He was the British ambassador to Belgium between 1996-2001, but served in such places as Paris.

Colvin went to the University of Toronto to get his degree in International Relations and the Russian language. He wrote his first foreign service test in 1990, but failed. He passed it in 1993. His first posting was Moscow for the Canadian International Development Agency.